The Choices We Make: Secrets of the Red Book
by BeyondWords
Summary: Sequel to Prequel to Laby: A Mother’s Sacrifices. After her triumph, Sarah discovers the truth- her journey isn't over. She chooses fulfill her responsibilities as the babe with the power of voodoo while trying to avoid Jareth- who keeps watching her. J
1. PreLabyrinth Prologue

Welcome to my fic, everyone! This is the sequel to my prequel, Prequel to Labyrinth: A Mother's Sacrifices, which you don't have to read, but it might be helpful if you have time.

A special welcome to all the people who read Prequel to Labyrinth: A Mother's Sacrifices! Welcome back to the strange world of BeyondWords' Labyrinth!

An even more joyful welcome to those who reviewed my prequel- Jenny, JLF, Labyriana, Prettylittleowl, Sierra_Falls, Nubian Queen, BloodIce and Labyris!

Here's a longer summary: Sequel to Prequel to Labyrinth: A Mother's Sacrifices. After her triumph in Jareth's Labyrinth, Sarah discovers the truth about her mother and the red book- her journey is not over. The worlds were not disconnected but instead remained connected; the magic is destroying both realms. Now, Sarah must fulfill her responsibilities as the babe with the power of voodoo with the help of friends new and old while trying to avoid Jareth, who keeps watching her. J/S

Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Labyrinth- I only own my story and my characters. TriStar Pictures, Henson Associates, Inc. and Lucasfilm Ltd. have the rights to the film and its characters. I will not write this disclaimer again for this fic- it applies to all of the coming chapters.

**The Choices We Make: Secrets of the Red Book**

"Destiny is no matter of chance. It is a matter of choice. It is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved." - William Jennings Bryan

**Pre-Labyrinth prologue:**

            The warm sun beams down over the park. Green grass covers the rolling hill beside the pond. On the other side of the bridge, a young girl with startling hazel eyes dashes with a little red book in her hand. Her long, black hair is in a loose ponytail that streaks behind her. She wears a short-sleeved t-shirt, jeans that taper at her ankles and brown, weaved flat shoes. Jogging easily over the cobblestone bridge, she does not bat an eyelash at the snowy white owl that is perched nearby. As she goes by, the owl turns its head to allow its eyes to follow her. After watching her practice her lines for another fifteen minutes, he blinks at her as she checks her watch and heads home. The owl raises its wings and soars into the sky.

            After switching dimensions, Jareth lands in his bedroom and changes back into his normal humanoid form. He mutters to himself. "What an insipid girl! At least she's consistent! Every day she reads the same thing- that damn book full of supposed predictions! I cannot believe that Father actually considered this simple human to be the babe!" He holds up his right hand and a crystal appears. A picture of Sarah fighting with her step-mother appears and he rolls both of his mismatched eyes. "Someone had a bad dream and planted a supposed prophecy so that they could have a laugh from beyond the grave! Well," he shakes his fist at the sky, "I will not be falling for such foolishness!"

            "So, you're back, are you, Master Jareth?" The Goblin King spins around to see Rolyat, the goblin who has served his family since the beginning of the kingdom. The shorter creature comes nearer and peers into the crystal. "Going off to see her again… how was she today? Why do you watch her every day? You know that she will grace us with her presence soon enough." An amused smile graces his old features.

            "Still as presumptuous as ever, Rolyat? Even if that ridiculous piece of paper is a true prediction of future events, she is not the one for whom you have waited. As I have told you countless times, you want to see the prophecy fulfilled so badly that you will see the babe with power of voodoo everywhere! This girl is flighty and immature; she could never defeat me."

            "Perhaps you see only what you wish to see too, sir." He raises his right eyebrow and softly laughs. Jareth makes an angry face at him, but Rolyat continues. "You must be seeing a good bit since you are obsessively stalking her most of the time."

            "First of all, I am not obsessive in the slightest, especially concerning her. Second, I am not stalking her. I am merely observing her in the off-chance that she is the one of whom the prophecy speaks."

            "Your stubbornness will be your downfall."

            Jareth looks Roylat in the eye and screams, "Leave me, now!"

            Undaunted, the old goblin bows and obeys. Jareth sits down in a nearby armchair covered in tattered brocade and broods.

            Back in the human world, Sarah hugs Lancelot to herself as she lounges on her bed. After an indeterminate period of time, she sighs to herself and checks the clock. 10:55 PM it reads. She sighs to herself and groans as she pulls herself out of bed to put on her nightgown and wash her face. When she's done, she gets back in bed, says her prayers and sinks into the comfort of her twin-sized bed.

            Once in the REM(rapid eye movement) stage of sleep, seemingly random pictures and sounds float through her subconscious. In her mind's eye, she sees a lovely dark-haired woman sitting on her bed beside her and kissing her cheek. Linda smiles for a moment, but an incredibly sad look replaces the grin. A moment ago, she had looked as if she was going to leave her sleeping child. Then Sarah's mind goes blank and reverberating words are all she can focus on.

            "This will sound out of place to you, but I hope that you will forgive me, my daughter for my weakness in allowing you to be taken from me. I gave in and I someday I will send you off against an amazing foe... You are the babe with the power of voodoo, although in my opinion it looks as if you had the power of love and stubbornness. Only time, that which is running out for me, will tell, but I will still be there by your side to protect you in whatever form I can take. Remember this: I love you with all my heart, so much more than you'll ever know. I pray that your love for me will allow you to forgive me for what I have done… I wish you my love to sustain you and my love to get you through and finally love to fulfill all your dreams… Goodbye, dear one..."

            The voice fades out, but it takes Sarah a few moments to recognize her mother's voice, although she does not understand what Linda means. Quickly one light comes on. _Mom is running her fingers through my hair while I sleep! Why does she look so sad?_ Linda goes to the dresser and pulls out a familiar red book and holds it close. Then it appears as if she puts something in the book._ Wait! That must have been the night before Mother died!_ The dream shatters like a crystal and Sarah gasps for breath as she sits up in bed. _What was that? Why would I dream of that again? This is the third time this week! She wipes some cold sweat from her brow and sighs. _Still, each time that I have dreamt that, it leaves me with this crazy feeling that the dream is real. I have searched through the book countless times, but I never found anything. I suppose that I am just getting into character. __

            As her daughter tries to go back to sleep in the middle of the night, Linda sighs and smiles sadly. _Today is the day, Sarah. Today the goblins will come and you will be led to say the words, as I knew those years ago. You have practiced and studied well. I am so proud, but I had wished that you would be a little older and that I had foreseen the effects of my emphasis on the story of the Labyrinth. You live in a fantasy world and you do not even see it. Perhaps this experience will redefine reality for you… as it did for me. I'm sorry that you must endure this trial, but I believe in you. I pray that I equipped you as best I could. We shall see this evening, dear Sarah._ She blows a kiss to her daughter. _I love you… Please forgive me…_

            Rolyat watches night pass in the Labyrinth. He swells with pride that his master has done so well, but a tingle of anticipation runs through his heart. _Tomorrow night will be the night. I can feel Lady Linda's presence working on Sarah in these last few hours. The babe has grown into a fine teenager and Master Jareth has grown in wisdom. He is still rash, yet already she proves to be his weak point. He dreams of her most nights and stares at her as if there is nothing else in the world; she fascinates him for some reason. Even as he is transfixed, he focuses on despising her in an attempt to keep the prophecy from coming true, but I feel that it was part of the plan. Naturally the curse would make him nervous, because no fae would want a prophecy that promises that he be beaten at his own game. I want Sarah to win, as she will. I do not wish my master pain, but I do wish to see him humbled into a better king. Maybe someday they lay down their warring souls and reconcile. Tomorrow another chapter begins for us all. Good luck, Sarah._

That was the prologue! The next part should be up soon! Please review- it really helps me write, but if you don't, thanks for reading!


	2. Initial Fury: The Next Step

Thanks to everyone who reviewed- Jenny, Prettylittleowl, Labyris, CeredwenFlame and Mysticalstar1- you are all too kind! Still, I know that my lack of updating has made everyone touchy. People have removed me from their favorites list in what I believe to be an act of protest. *shrugs* I have reasons, you know! My parents were sick for weeks and I had to take care of them; my second nephew was born… Things have been crazy and some serious questions came up about whether I should write this fic. A conflict of interest got in the way and I didn't know what I was going to do and so I became discouraged. I have gotten around that obstruction now, so although this chapter isn't that long, at least it's out! I am very sorry that it took me so long to update- I will do better.

Initial Fury: The Next Step

"We shall find no fiend in hell can match the fury of a disappointed woman,—scorned, slighted, dismissed without a parting pang. " Colley Cibbler, Love's Last Shift. Act iv.

The morning before:

            Jareth wakes up early and smiles to himself as he feels the energy of anticipation run through the Labyrinth. He smirks to himself. _Today she will come. She's not ready; she is still young. I can take advantage of that. She won't see the real me; she can't! I hate her and I'll make her hate me! The prophecy will never come true then. I'll show everyone how ridiculous that prediction is.  He stares out the window. _Today is the day that I win, Sarah. I'll show you…__

The morning after:

            Jareth comes into his sitting room and stares blankly into the fireplace. After a few moments of silent communion, his goblins come and find him. As the volume increases in the room, Jareth gets increasingly disturbed. He glares at them, but they don't understand the meaning- he glares at them a good bit of the time. Suddenly erupting, he screams, "Leave, all of you!" The goblins stop what they are doing and stare at him for a second, but they still don't move an inch. Jareth narrows his eyes. "I said for you to get out of this room, so go!" Finally they get the message, so they reluctantly go to trash the throne room instead.

            Still scowling, he lounges back in his armchair- an attempt to relax. His shoulders remain tense and his thinking is almost garbled in his state of shock. He simply cannot believe what happened. He actually lost; the Labyrinth turned against him and let her through to the end. In the last few moments, she jumped and his heart leaped with her. Caught between his fascination with her and his driving desire to win, he suspended the rules to protect her, so that she would not fall… or so she would not touch her crawling, baby brother. He shakes his head before cradling it in his hands in frustration. After that, he had spoken his mind and gone too far, further than he would have ever allowed himself to think… and she denied him, his power, his love.

            "She should've said yes; it was a much better choice by any stretch of her overgrown imagination!"

            As always, Rolyat knows when to make an entrance. He appears at Jareth's feet and pats his master's leather boot. "Maybe she did not feel that subservience was a good option. Allowing someone to rule over you is very difficult; it's a conscious effort. However, allowing something to rule over you is not nearly as hard; it could be anything- power, affluence, acclaim, love or just about anything. Sarah did not want to be tamed."

            Jareth's bloodshot eyes snap open. "Don't say that name! Besides, what would you know of ruling over anyone?"

            The old goblin sits down in a nearby chair that he had claimed as his long ago. "I may not know about ruling over anyone, but I know about being ruled over, sir. The reason that I allowed it in the first place was that I believed in my master and his vision. I believed that although he was not perfect, he would try to make decisions in the best interests of the people. Of course, it was open to discussion. In the end, I trusted him to do the right thing."

            Jareth gracefully sits forward and almost calmly voices, "So you're saying that Sarah doesn't trust me?"

            He sheepishly answers, "Well you didn't do much to help her in that department, Master Jareth. You did your best to make sure that she lost the game so that you could have your way. You didn't even try to be kind to her!"

            The Goblin King stands and pulls himself up to his full height to tower over his inferior. "I was generous! Besides, she was no nicer to me than I was to her! Why should I waste my kindness on her anyway? The others didn't need kindness to give in to me, so why should she be a special case?"

            "Because she simply is, Your Majesty… but she made her choice, like it or not… what are you going to do now?"

            A vein begins to pop on Jareth's forehead. "I will do whatever I please and if it does not please you, maybe I should fire you! After all, you do not put your trust in me, so why would you allow me to rule over you?"

            Rolyat throws a chastising look at his master. "You know that you cannot fire me, sir. Even that is not within the range of your powers because your ancestor put a spell on me. I will always serve his family and help his line to reign, unless I want to leave of my own free will."

            "It's not a spell; it's a curse," Jareth mumbles.

            "Despite appearances, I am fond of you, Master Jareth and I am proud of how you growing up. I want what's best for your realm; it is in that interest and in your best interest that I press you."

            "Shut up; that is more than enough. At least we are safe and you can shut up about that stupid prophecy!" _And now I don't have to deal with her or get involved ever again!_

            After the joyful party in her room, Sarah is left alone to supposedly sleep. But as she stares out her window at the now-clear night sky, she feels so tired that she can't fall into her bed and dream. Combing her fingers through her loose hair, she sighs and feels mildly irritated at herself for not being able to rest. All of a sudden, her arms ache to hold Toby to reassure herself that he's safe and real. In order to kill some of her anxiety, she walks out her door and goes to check on Toby.

            The fair baby boy is curled up around Lancelot as he sucks his little thumb. Sarah smiles wistfully and lightly runs her fingertips over his soft hair. Reflecting on the journey for the first time since she got home, she feels her heart clench at what could have occurred. She looks down at his in his crib once more and the pain edges away. The worst did not occur and now she must return to life. Everything must, thankfully, go back to normal.

            She smiles once more at her sleeping sibling and shuts the door so that he won't wake from his peaceful rest. Once back in her room, she looks around and remembers the Junk Lady piling her belongings on top of her. Shuddering with the unpleasant memory, she regards her room with new eyes. The bedroom is cluttered with "precious" things, leaving no room for anything new- no new books, no new memorabilia and no new dreams. Since she realizes this, she decides to store most of it in boxes and put it up in the attic- not gone forever, but not solely taking up space.

            Before too long, she has packed the majority of the objects and pictures that she wishes to catalog and put in storage. Each object provokes a memory as she gently organizes it into boxes. Next, she goes to the upper right drawer of her dresser and takes out the red book. She caresses it as she walks it towards a box filled with things that remind her of the Labyrinth, but accidentally drops it onto her carpet. The little red book falls to the ground in seeming slow motion and bounces open. A letter and piece of shaped metal on a chain appear at her feet. 

            Her eyes alit with curiosity; Sarah reaches down to pick up both objects. Suddenly she stops in the middle of the motion and second-guesses herself- after all, everything is not as it seems. She becomes very serious for a moment before shaking off her feeling because she is now at home, not back in that strange land. Her ordeal is finished- her duty done and Toby has been returned to his rightful place. She places the metal on the dresser and sits down to read the note.

_Hello Sarah,_

_            So you have found my letter. Your mission is over and you have triumphed magnificently, as I hoped that you would. If you hadn't, you wouldn't be reading this letter right now. At this moment, I wonder how old you are and I wish I could be there to see the beautiful woman that you have no doubt become. Now comes the time for you to know the truth._

_            Darling Sarah, you don't know me, not really. I wish that you did; I wanted to be there with you every step of the way, but I was unable to fulfill my duty to you, my precious daughter. Regardless, I hope to watch over you along your path- through your fears, your joy and your loneliness._

            _The memories that you have of me must be vague and are most likely fading into darkness with each passing year. The truth is- I did not want to be a gentle, but invisible ghost watching over your every move. I don't want to be a dead wife kissing the cheek of my husband as he joins hands with another woman. Oh I know that she's very different from you, Sarah- I know that you two mix about as well as oil and water- but your father will love her and she will give him another chance for love. I hope that you are able to love me and that you know how much I love you. Never forget that, Sarah. I love you and I tried to protect you through my choices. You will hate me when I tell you the rest of the story, but I pray that you will understand with time and remember that I love you and that I tried my best._

_             I think I can see how you are now, dear one. I would have preferred to be there in flesh and blood, but unfortunately I was dealt a bad hand, including the card for breast cancer. When I see you in my dreams, I am saddened and encouraged. You have pictures of me stuck in the sides of your mirror in your room, but you still do not see me, not the real me. In your heart, you have placed me upon a pedestal and I must admit that I am flattered. _

            _I had my success on the stage that filled my heart with joy, but more than that, I fell in love with your father and gave birth to you. No, I regret but one thing- that I cannot help you. My daughter, you do not see all of the frailties inherent in my being- you do not yet know the truth. When the day comes, I hope that you will be able to forgive me for the crimes I have committed, against my will yes, but still crimes that I committed that inevitably led you to the fabled Labyrinth of the Goblin King. So there was nothing for me to do than to prepare you as best I could to finish what I accidentally began._

_            That is why I wrote this book called the Labyrinth and filled your head with its stories. I was once in the castle of the Goblin King, Sarah. He tricked me into wishing you away; in exchange for your humanity, I had to promise that one of us would write the story and publish it so that the words would never be forgotten. There was a prophecy that someone would defeat the Labyrinth and its king- you are the heroine that fulfilled that prophecy. You need to know that I allowed this; I did it to protect you, so I pray that you will someday forgive me. I did not mean to leave my responsibilities to you, but time ran out for me. I know that you are weary from your journey, but please know that it is not finished yet. Please finish the story by publishing the book. This will never be finished if you don't. All you want is to be free of Jareth; but in order to do so, you must at least fulfill this one duty._

_            I know that you must be furious with me; you have a right to be. I didn't leave you defenseless- you never were. You just don't know your power. I didn't either, not before my trip into the underground. That pendant represents the pact that I made with Mikal, the Goblin King, also the father of Jareth. It will help you, Sarah._

_            I know that my apology and explanation seem rather pathetic and I can only strengthen my appeal to my own imperfections. I will always be with you, my dear daughter. Good luck with the book- I know that you will become a wonderful writer. Take care and remember the importance of making choices and hoping in the future.  I love you._

_Your mother,_

_Linda Katrina Ostling Williams _

            Sarah folds the letter carefully and places it back in its hiding place in the book. Stooping down, she picks up the necklace and holds it in her hand. The pendant looks like a more polished version of the one that Jareth had around his neck. She brings it closer to her eyes to examine it and it grows hot to the touch.

            She drops it as quickly as possible. When it leaves her fingertips, she feels her fury burn in her chest. Incensed by what her mother had written, she throws the pendant back in the book and sends the entire object flying into the box, almost breaking the statue that resembles Jareth.

            She sits down on her bed and hugs a random pillow to herself. _Mother, how could you do this to me? This isn't fair! A voice in her head wonders what her basis for comparison is. She puts her hands over her ears as another thought comes to her- _That's just the way it is._ Glaring in the direction of the book, she fumes about her mother until she finally falls into a blessedly dreamless sleep._

That's all for this chapter; sorry again that it was so late. Of course, it's not as simple as just writing and publishing the story, no, no… what kind of writer would I be to do that? No, I have an idea- not that I'm not open to what everyone wants to see. If it doesn't happen, don't hate, it just wouldn't work in the line that I had planned. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it and I will update sooner than I did before! 


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